Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-11-Speech-2-023"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080311.7.2-023"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"In my opinion, things go badly wrong even at the very beginning of the introduction of the Commission’s annual policy strategy for 2009. I am talking about one of the main ideas put forward there, and I quote: ‘Putting the Citizen First’. This is adding insult to injury, as they say. After all, nowhere does the European Commission put European citizens first, nowhere does it show respect for them.
What is the European Commission? When all is said and done, it is little more than a body of politically appointed officials with extremely limited democratic legitimacy, belonging to the small circle of European mandarins who think they know better than citizens and believe it would be best if, supposedly in the public interest, they decided everything themselves, even over the heads of the citizens they purport to respect.
This is the democratic deficit about which everyone talks but no one does anything. If citizens really came first, the Commission would insist on consulting these citizens, particularly in the case of the most important issues currently on the table. When are citizens going to be allowed to give their opinion on the new, disguised European Constitution? The citizens of the Netherlands and France gave their opinion on it not long ago, but it is clear that the European Commission does not put those citizens first.
When are European citizens going to be allowed to give their opinion on the disastrous immigration policy being shoved down their throats by the European mandarins? When will these citizens be allowed to take their own decisions and enjoy respect for their opinions on vitally important matters such as the potential accession to our European Union of Turkey, an Islamic and in many respects, indeed all respects, non-European country? The only time the European Union puts citizens first is when it comes to their paying taxes for the European mandarins and the policies that these privileged persons force on them over their heads. That being the case, at least have the courage to say that Europe will never be a democratic entity."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples